Oracle Team USA hit the San Francisco Bay with a sophisticated new catamaran skillfully crafted to fend off rivals intent on taking the America’s Cup from the defending champion.
On a sun-washed expanse of dock behind the team’s base at Pier 80, Oracle chief marketing officer Judy Sim smashed a bottle of champagne across the bowsprit of an AC72 named Oracle Team USA 17.
“This is a very significant day for us,” said Sir Russell Coutts, the head of Oracle Team USA, before the vessel referred to by the crew simply as “boat two” was lowered into the water.
“This fantastic boat represents extreme performance, engineering and an improvement over where we were before,” he continued. “More importantly, this is the boat that is going to defend the America’s Cup for America in America.”
The first race of this year’s America’s Cup finals is slated to take place on the bay on September 7, with defending champion Oracle Team USA taking on the victor of the Louis Vuitton Cup set to play out in July and August.
It will be the first time both teams in the finals will race with multi-hull boats tailored to an America’s Cup design rule that also calls for “shorthanded” crews of eleven members.
The AC72 boats in the America’s Cup were described by event organizers as “speedsters” powered by 130-foot (40 meter) tall wing sales and with the ability to hydrofoil, essentially rise out of the water to reduce drag.
“The introduction of foiling is very radical,” Oracle Team tactician John Kostecki told AFP.
“We are pushing it now,” he continued. “It is going to be a high learning curve for everyone.
Wind of 20 knots prompted the team to abort plans to go out training on the bay Tuesday in the new boat.
The team hoped to train in the coming months with challengers along with practice racing against the AC72 it used, and flipped, in a series on the bay last year.
That boat, valued unofficially at between $8 million and $10 million, was repaired and returned to the water in February.
The challengers are Emirates Team New Zealand; Luna Rossa Prada of Italy, and Artemis from Sweden.
“There is a tremendous amount to achieve between now and that first race on September seventh,” Coutts said. “If we stop for a moment, we will be overtaken.”
Unlike America’s Cup events of years past, the premier sailing showdown in September will be fought in an aquatic arena allowing throngs of spectators to see the action and cheer on their champions.
“First and foremost speed is going to be the key, then maneuverability,” Kostecki said of sailing the tight, windy confines of the San Francisco Bay.
“Within that cage we have to maneuver a lot,” he continued. “These extremely light, efficient boats slow down a lot when they maneuver, so the faster you can do those things the better chances your team will win.”
Australia-born Jimmy Spithill, who became the youngest skipper to win the America’s Cup with a victory in 2010 at age 30, leads the Oracle crew intent on keeping the prized trophy here for another four years.
He referred to the new boat as a “weapon.”
“A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into that boat,” Spithill told AFP.
Oracle Team USA hits San Francisco Bay with new boat
